Vegetarian on the Grill

The farmers market tables are overflowing with late summer veggies that I can't resist even if I do have ripe tomatoes and squash on the vine at home and a CSA box coming on a couple of days. So if you get invited to our house anytime soon, get ready to eat your vegetables. I served this grilled salad to friends after a long evening of packing and painting in preparation for our upcoming move.


Grilled Panzanella

Ingredients
for garlic oil
1/2 cup olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic (depending on the size and your personal appreciation for garlic)
a pinch or two of salt

for the grill
1/2 to 1 pound tomatoes
1 medium zucchini
1 small eggplant
1 sweet onion
2 ears corn
1 bell pepper
1/2 of a 1 pound loaf of whole grain bread

for the dressing
leftover garlic oil, plus enough olive oil to make 1/4 cup
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
a handful of fresh herbs (fennel fronds, basil, parsley, mint, tarragon, chives... if you happen to be the friends who ate this the other night and want to do just what I did, use about 2 parts each bronze and green fennel, 1 part basil, and 1 part flat Italian parsley)
salt and pepper to taste


Preparation

Make garlic oil by mincing and mashing garlic to a paste with a pinch or two of salt then whisking it into the olive oil. Use the flat side of a wide heavy knife, and I recommend a non porous cutting board so that you lose less of the juice.

Slice the zucchini, eggplant and onion into 1/4 inch rounds. Lay them out on a tray, platter, baking sheet, cutting board or whatever is flat and big and you can carry out to your grill. Brush the top side with garlic oil. Core the bell pepper and cut it into about 4 pieces so that they will mostly lie flat on the grill. Pull the husks and silks off of the corn. Leave the tomatoes whole. Brush the bell pepper, corn and tomatoes with garlic oil. Slice the crusts off the sides of the loaf of bread and slice the bread into half inch slices lengthwise. Brush one side with garlic oil. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper over everything. Shake some crushed red pepper flakes over your veggies, too, if you want it spicy.

Grill everything. If you have to do it in batches, start with the corn, then zucchini, eggplant, onion, bell pepper, bread and tomatoes. Put the veggies on the grill oiled side down and brush the other sides with oil while they're on the grill.

Once everything has gone on the grill, make the dressing. Whisk enough olive oil into the leftover garlic oil to make 1/4 cup, then whisk in vinegar and lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Chop the fresh herbs and stir them into the dressing.

As things come off the grill start chopping. Cut corn off the cob, cut the zucchini and eggplant rounds into fourths, and cut the onion and bell pepper into bite sized pieces and cut or tear the bread into 1 inch pieces. Finally core and chop the tomatoes over the salad bowl to catch the juices.

Add a little more than half the dressing to the tomatoes and juices in bowl, then toss in all of the veggies and bread and toss to coat. Add more dressing as needed.

Let the salad rest for 5 to 10 minutes. The bread should be a little soggy but not turning to mush!

Eat it up, chickie-doo, Mama made it just for you!


Wow, that looks way to complicated. Just brush some vegetables and bread with garlic oil, grill them, cut them into bite sized pieces and toss with a basic vinaigrette and fresh herbs. Come to think of it, I also threw in steamed green beans the other night. And you could use whatever you have on hand--chickpeas or red or white kidney beans are a good addition for extra protein, or sprinkle some toasted nuts or seeds over the top just before serving. You don't have to grill either, I think the traditional Umbrian way is just to use fresh tomatoes, onion and day-old bread.